Russia could provide special tax arrangements for the consortium planning to develop Russia's giant offshore Shtokman gas field, an executive from energy major Total SA (TOT) said Wednesday.

Given that Shtokman is a "frontier project" and a major offshore development that would "open a new oil province," it "appears quite logical that there should be a dialogue on tax," Total's senior vice-president for continental Europe and central Asia, Arnaud Breuillac, told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Paris.

A dialogue between the Shtokman joint venture and the Russian authorities is underway, he said.

"It is not abnormal and certainly not unprecedented" for a special system for taxing the project to be put in place, he said, adding: "It is far too soon to say what it is."

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 33 1 4017 1756; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com